Castle Tower

The Castle Tower is probably the most famous symbol of Český Krumlov. The banner at the top shines at a height of 86 m above the Vltava River. The tower has a Gothic core, but it was completed in Renaissance style. The lowest section was created in the mid-13th century, while the second floor, slightly narrower and separated from the bottom by a narrow ledge, is about a hundred years younger. The Renaissance Tower was given its shape by completion in 1581, designed by Italian architect Baldassaro Maggi of Arogno (about 1550–1619). The exterior decoration of the tower as well as of the Hrádek in 1590 is the work of the Rožmberk court painter Bartoloměj Beránek, nicknamed Jelínek († 1618). The murals were extensively repaired and partially reconstructed from 1994 to 1996.

The gallery is decorated with arcades on 19 columns.

There are four bells hung in the tower, the heaviest of which has an estimated weight of 1,800 kg and dates from 1406. Other small bells, known as the clock bells, have been hanging in the lucerne atop the tower for 400 years.

Interesting technical details

number of steps: 162 height: 54,5 m height from the surface of the Vltava: 86 m height to gallery: 24,6 m maximum diameter of the tower: 12 m greatest thickness of the wall: 3,7 m